The award for actress in a drama series went to 15-year-old Claire Danes of My So-Called Life, a much-acclaimed series that has languished in the ratings.

"It's a huge honor to be acknowledged at such a young age," Danes told the glittering crowd at the Beverly Hilton Hotel's International Ballroom.

Miranda Richardson won best supporting TV actress for her role in Fatherland, and Edward James Olmos picked up the supporting actor trophy for The Burning Season.

In the movie awards, Diane Wiest, who played the flamboyant Broadway actress in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, won best supporting actress in a drama.

Martin Landau, who played horror star Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, got best actor. Landau came to the stage amid heavy applause. After a lengthy acceptance speech, holding his Golden Globe high, he said: "Bela, wherever you are, thank you."

The top movie awards promised to help predict whether frontrunners Forrest Gump or Pulp Fiction will score biggest at the Oscars. The Golden Globes is traditionally the first major awards show of the season and often a bellwether of the Academy Awards.

This year's Golden Globe favorites offered a contrast: The feel-good Forrest Gump won the hearts of filmgoers, amassing more than $300 million in ticket sales. The gangster film Pulp Fiction, attacked by some as ultraviolent, has nevertheless collected the majority of critics' awards. So far it has grossed $70 million.

Favorites in the acting categories included Jodie Foster, Nell; Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump; Andie McDowell, Four Weddings and a Funeral; and Jim Carrey, The Mask.